Product description

The classic novel--and hit Broadway show--about escaped convict Jean Valjean
has been adapted with easy-to-read text, large type, and short chapters. This
engaging adaptation of the timeless tale is ideal for reluctant readers and
kids not yet ready to tackle the original.

Author information

Born in 1802, the son of a high officer in Napoleon's army, Victor Hugo spent his childhood against a background of military life in Elba, Corsica, Naples, and Madrid. After the Napoleonic defeat, the Hugo family settled in straitened circumstances in Paris, where, at the age of fifteen, Victor Hugo commenced his literary career with a poem submitted to a contest sponsored by the Academie Francaise. Twenty-four years later, Hugo was elected to the Academie, having helped revolutionize French literature with his poems, plays, and novels. Entering politics, he won a seat in the National Assembly in 1848; but in 1851, he was forced to flee the country because of his opposition to Louis Napoleon. In exile on the Isle of Guernsey, he became a symbol of French resistance to tyranny; upon his return to Paris after the Revolution of 1870, he was greeted as a national hero. He continued to serve in public life and to write with unabated vigor until his death in 1885. He was buried in the Pantheon with every honor the French nation could bestow.
Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee have translated two volumes of the letters of Jean-Paul Sartre, edited by Simone de Beauvoir: "Witness to My Life" and "Quiet Moments in a War." For their work together, they have received an NEA Translation fellowship and the American Literary Translators Association Award. Lee Fahnestock has translated fiction as well as four volumes of the poetry of Francis Ponge, including "The Making of the Pre "and "The Nature of Things." The French Government honored her with the Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et des lettres. Norman MacAfee's other books include "One Class: Selected Poems; The Gospel According to RFK: Why It Matters Now;" the opera "The Death of the Forest"; and translations of Pier Paolo Pasolini's poetry.

Customer reviews

As other reviewers have already said, this is by far the best translation of Les Miserables! It is based on the 1862 English translation by C. E. Wilbour, a friend of Hugo's who was able to complete the translation in a remarkably short time and publish it the same year the original French edition came out. Do not be frightened by the sheer size of the book; the language is so delicate and beautiful you'll be turning tens of pages in no time. I was immersed in the fabric of the story, even though I'm acquainted with the plot as I'd read the abridged edition in addition to seeing the various TV renditions of the novel. I really recommend this edition! You will not regret it!